Beauty Editor Kelly Baker Answers Your Questions About … Everything

The moment anyone finds out I’m a beauty editor I get hit up with a lot of questions. Like, what’s your favourite mascara, is your job as incredible as it looks, how do I get rid of dark circles? I figured the quickest way to answer the questions I hear the most, is to pop them down in one hit.

So, here’s a handful of Qs I do get asked a lot and, conveniently enough, a handful of answers to go with them.

You’ve been a beauty editor for a long time. How did you get your start?
I started as a hard news reporter and even though I loved the frantic pace of it I knew it wasn’t for me. I wanted to be more poetic in my writing style and car crashes and council meeting follow-ups don’t allow for much of that!

How would you describe your personal style?
I’m a little bit rock chick I would think. I tend to wear not too much makeup at all. But I love a luminescent cheek and a berry stained mouth. Natural and fresh I would think … Who knows? It’s very hard to assess yourself realistically .. I might have to ask around … Maybe you guys could tell me? Actually … only if you’re going to be kind. I’m more sensitive than I look!

This pic is of my friend Ros Layton who was appearing in a shoot we were doing for the Australian Women’s Weekly. I was the Beauty and Health Director there for many years. Isn’t Ros gorgeous? She’s 50. Amazing.

What three beauty products won’t you leave home without?
I never go anywhere without a tube of the Aussie cult lip product Lanolips. My favourite shade is Rhubarb but as long as I have a tube I’m easy. I also like a tinted moisturiser and a cream blush. Today you’ll find La Prairie Radiance Cellular Cream Blush, $90, in my GUCCI handbag. It’s gorgeous plus has a generous mirror.

What makes you an expert anyway?
I’m not sure I would use those words to describe myself but I have worked as a journalist since I was 17 years old. I started off in hard news in a very tough, old-fashioned newspaper where I was trained and in the toughest of ways. If I made a mistake I paid for it in blood. It was a hard gig and I went home to my parents and cried every single weekend but I can now string a perfectly grammatical sentence together and I know damn well how to stage a decent interview and write an excellent piece.

This is me with the genius beauty guru Alphie Sadsad of Bobbi Brown. He did my makeup before filming at Channel Nine. I think I was appearing on A Current Affair. Obviously I look amazing – because he is a god.

Have you had any serious standout moments? Met anyone amazing?

I have been working in this field for most of my life and I still love the pants off it! Beauty is, bottom line, fun. And yes, it is frivolous. No doubt. It’s a long way from neurosurgery … but it has the capacity to change the way people see themselves, to lift their mood and to allow themselves to feel beautiful. To me, that means everything.
My highlights always relate to that … They revolve around seeing a very regular person being transformed, watching them leave a makeover with their shoulders straight and their chin up and their soul smiling. Who wouldn’t want to be around that ever day?

And sure – I’ve met some very, very famous people but the ones that stand out the most to me are actually the regular women I meet when I’m hosting events.

Name your three fave beauty treatments?
It’s not a terribly exciting list but I will not go without a gel nail pedicure. I generally go with OPI because the quality is amazing and the colour range is incredible although I always choose the same shade – Big Apple Red.

Lash extensions. Always!
I try and give them up but I just never, ever can. They’re such an easy way to look pretty without making any effort at all! If I’m careful and don’t sleep on my face I can get a good two months out of them too.

I wear lash extensions pretty much always. It means I can get up and go to work and look alive – even when I’m basically not. I go to Amy-Jean Linnehan at Amy-Jean Eye Couture. She is so very, very good at what she does. Also, she’s hilarious. Just saying.

Botox!
If I have the money (heck, even if I don’t) this is the beauty treatment I do not skip. Just a little to soften the lines across the forehead and my crow’s feet.

Anything you really don’t like or do you love it all?
I’m not a fan of body wraps. You know where they layer you up with something, wrap you like a burrito and then wander away and leave you for what seems like forever while you sweat and wriggle and count sheep. Those … I am not a fan of those!

One super sexy scent. It’s very hard to find but I’m okay … I’ve got maybe half a dozen bottles stashed. That should last me a while. Shouldn’t it?

Favourite scent right now?
My all-time favourite fragrance is Womanity by Thierry Mugler. It’s not easy to come by and I suspect that’s because it’s not a big seller. It’s one of those scents that people either utterly adore or loathe. It makes me weak at the knees. One spritz is all I need. It makes me feel incredibly sexy, powerful and sophisticated all at the same time.

Is being Beauty Editor as amazing as it looks? 
The biggest high is definitely the people involved. The women I work with are like my very irritatingly pretty sisters! We do also get to do some very luxurious things … certainly not things I could afford to do if I didn’t work in this industry.

Like check this girl out for instance. The incredibly beautiful Janine Donovan – Beauty Editor extraordinaire and, more to the point, ace human being with a heart the size of a planet.

Your indulgences?
Gosh. As a single mama of two a massage and a good night’s sleep means everything to me.

Fav Spa destination?
I’m yet to find one that’s really a standout. Or, maybe it’s that I’ve been spoiled so they all seem pretty much the same? There are definitely amazing ones out there and they don’t have to be the most glamorous ones either. Sometimes the low-key places at your local mall are amazing. How about you tell me your fave and I’ll head there ASAP!

NB: Have a question you want answering? Hop on our Facebook page or, email via the site. I promise we will read everything and come back to you with answers. Good ones! Because if we don’t know ourselves our friends who are all professionals in the beauty trade will.